


Close Your Eyes, You’ll See the Devil’s Grin

by hedgerowhag



Series: Decoy [2]
Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: (Monsters get smacked), (can it be a break up if there was no relationship), Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Blood and Violence, Break Up, Crossdressing, Happy Ending, Hate Sex, Hurt, M/M, Miscommunication, Misunderstandings, Porn With Plot, Resolution, read the beginning note
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-05
Updated: 2021-03-04
Packaged: 2021-03-15 23:46:52
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 15,940
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28572480
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hedgerowhag/pseuds/hedgerowhag
Summary: It’s just how fate works. The one who is destined to become hatred incarnate has no other choice in his future, right?—Sequel to ‘Let Me Hold You, Like a Hostage’ where more misunderstandings happen.
Relationships: Ganondorf/Link (Legend of Zelda), Link & Zelda (Legend of Zelda)
Series: Decoy [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2049069
Comments: 13
Kudos: 156





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If u are concerned about the tags know this: neither link nor ganon do any malicious harm to each other what so ever. There is no non-con (this isn’t that type of au) and there is no violence toward each other. They get extremely angry but everything is completely consensual and in the end all misunderstandings are cleared up
> 
> There is some violence that I would call a tad graphic but it’s mainly just monsters getting pulverised and some lightning fried steak. There is actually more action in this than porn (shocker)
> 
> I can’t promise when I’ll update again but I can 100% promise u that this fic isn’t getting ditched. I’ve got just 2 more scenes to figure out in the middle but otherwise I have it complete. Please sit tight if it takes a while

Blood running down his scalp, the smell of his own burned skin, the sting of wind running head on toward him. He hurt, he was exhausted, his limbs were barely his. Link’s teeth ached as he clenched his jaw and nocked an arrow. His horse shook it’s head but didn’t resist as he turned and looked down the silver spine of the arrow set in a moon sickle bow up at his target.

The Beast. Each footstep an echo of an earthquake. Heaving, monstrous, immeasurable underneath the burning orange sky. Simmering with hatred - anger made flesh.

“Link— I can’t hold on much longer—!”

He felt Zelda beside him, around him, but he could not see her as he kicked his horse to go faster, head on toward the Beast. There was no choice, there was no one else to do this.

The Dark Beast. The destroyer, the Calamity— Ganon.

Link choked, eyes wide. The arrow loosened and flew toward its target, splitting the malice covering the Beast’s body.

A scream.

“Link! Link, wake up!”

Link opened his eyes. Above, there was a canopy of an old tree. He breathed in the smell of falling rain.

“Link?”

He turned his head and looked across as Zelda lying on a sleeping mat, a thin blanket wrapped only around her shoulders, the rain was falling behind her beyond the shelter of the tree. She was dressed in the stealth armour of the Sheikah - they both were. Zelda squinted at him with a strange look. Link titled his head at her.

“You were making sounds in your sleep like you were running from something,” she said. “You weren’t even moving, but your breathing sounded like you were fleeing something. I had almost thought we had been attacked.”

Link looked back up at the tree canopy, resting his hands over his stomach.

“You would tell me if your dream were troubling you, wouldn’t you?”

Peeking from the corner of his eye at the Princess, Link said nothing.

Zelda sighed.

He said nothing once again. 

“Do you remember my seventeenth birthday?”

Of course he did.

“I hadn’t slept all night. We went to the Spring of Courage and we were exhausted from the journey, but still we couldn’t sleep. We couldn’t eat anything in the morning. All people were evacuated except for us. There was not much to do but wait. You were pacing in my room and Impa was standing at the doors. I just sat there and prayed, waiting for the Calamity to strike. You paced and paced without exhaustion with murder in your eyes.”

Link tried not to think of the nausea he felt all of that day.

“We didn’t sleep that night again. You just sat on my windowsill and watched over me. On the third day, still nothing. I sent you out because I was afraid that if you stayed longer you would start breaking things. When you came back your clothes were torn and you smelled of blood.”

Link looked down at the scabbard of the Master Sword lying beside him.

“I knew that day,” Zelda went on, “that you would have done your best to protect me from anything that would have come. To death.”

Only then Link looked at Zelda again. She smiled at him.

“I want you to know that whatever troubles you, however ridiculous you think it is, I’ll protect you in the same way. And I know I don’t have much strength—“

Link almost interrupted her. He didn’t know how many times he and Impa had drilled the contrary into Zelda’s head. But he allowed her to continue.

“When you can’t stand any longer, I’ll be there to protect you. Alright?”

He couldn’t help but smile. With his numb hands, he said, ‘Thank you.’

* * *

  
  


They avoided towns and outposts as they travelled from Kakariko and slept under trees and inside shallow caves. They pushed through the valley leading to the Gerudo desert and finally allowed themselves to rest at the stable just at the threshold of the dunes.

Sleeping in beds for the first time in weeks, they heard the clack of hammers working on stone and the creaking of the gangways high up in the canyon through the night. The excavation work never stopped.

They replenished their food and water before leaving the safety of the canyon and setting out on the path through the sand. Zelda remained dressed in her Sheikah clothing with white fabric bound around her head and face, leaving just a slit for her eyes. Link had stripped down to the lighter Gerudo clothes that barely took up any space in his pack. He pulled his hair up in a long ponytail, thankful to feel a breeze on his neck. 

Zelda and Link barely spoke as they made it to Kara Kara bazaar, briefly stopping to drink before pushing onwards. It was evening when they finally made it to the walls of Gerudo Town. 

The guards let them through with salutes which they returned. Even with the sun setting down the commotion of the town and the sprawling market square was not slowing. 

They led each other through the crowds, somewhat ignored by the masses, before they finally finding themselves at the steps reaching into the palace. The main hall was never empty, either occupied by court hearings or general discussions that would continue for hours. It was open for all to enter and Link and Zelda could always expect to find someone inside who could point them to Urbosa or Ganon.

In spite of their expectations, they stumbled into an empty hall. Link looked at Zelda, puzzled, and she quirked an eyebrow at him through the mask of fabric. But then the clatter of metal and the crack of lightning urged them to walk to the balcony looking over the training grounds.

The powerful shockwave from the blast of green lightning almost sent them back into the throne room, stumbling, as they caught themselves on the stone wall of the staircase landing. Link peered over the edge down at the training plaza and saw Urbosa holding up her scimitar that sparked and crackled with the aftermath of the blast, her soldiers were beside her with their spears pointed toward the figure that had been sent helplessly rolling across the sandy ground.

Zelda laughed behind her mask as she watched Ganon push himself up onto his hands and knees before standing below the balcony of the staircase.

“Again?” Urbosa barked, holding her blade ready and pointed toward the Gerudo King.

“Do you think there is at least one place on me you haven’t left bruised?” Ganon grumbled as he stood straight, his own scimitars held limp.

While they spoke, Link watched Zelda silently reach for her bow and nock an arrow. She leaned out from the shelter of the landing balcony and pointed the arrowhead directly below. The arrow shot down, hitting the sand right between Ganon’s feet.

To Link’s disappointment he didn’t even stumble. Ganon wrenched his head up, meeting eyes with the two Hylians.

“I won’t hesitate to arrest, both of you!” Ganon shouted as his warriors laughed. Link just grinned.

Ganon kicked the impaled arrow in the ground, snapping it in two, and said to the warriors and Urbosa, “I give up, I won’t win against you today.” He bowed before adding, “Thank you for your training.”

Urbosa sheathed her scimitar as the warriors stood down. “You were so close, why didn’t you push yourself further? You aren’t tired.” 

Ganon didn’t respond as he started to walk from the training plaza.

Urbosa dismissed the warriors before following her nephew. “You should be proud of your soldiers for standing for so long against you,” she said to him.

Ganon only nodded, unaware of the two Hylians running down the steps, saved only by Zelda yanking Link back at the last moment before they could collide. 

Ganon squinted at the Hylians and pointed at them with a scimitar, forcing them to take several steps back up the staircase. “We should have them sent to the prison cells.”

“Ah our unexpected guests!” Urbosa appeared behind Ganon, smiling up at Zelda and Link who slapped away Ganon’s scimitar. “It’s been very long since we saw either of you.”

“Lady Urbosa.” Zelda bowed briefly behind Link. “Apologies for appearing so suddenly, we try to move through Hyrule with as little detection as possible and it’s difficult to determine when we arrive.”

“No need to apologise,” Urbosa said as she pushed past Ganon to walk back up to the staircase to the Hylians. “We are just glad to have you. Will you be setting out for the mountains right away? I’d like to invite you to eat with us first, at least.”

“Oh! Of course!” Zelda jogged to follow Urbosa into the palace, wringing her hands behind her back. Seeing her act so bashfully while dressed as a formidable Sheikah warrior made Link smirk. 

A hand on Link’s back urged him to turn around and look back at Ganon several steps below him.

“Hello,” was all Ganon said before he leaned across to Link and kissed the corner of his mouth, startling him. 

Link would always assume that Ganon would not so much as speak with him in public. Despite how they knew each other, Ganon was a respected leader of the Gerudo people and he held himself as such, so Link always expected to be met with Ganon’s colder side. What he was shown instead, even after having been away from Gerudo Town for weeks or months, were brief embraces or a kiss on hand, shoulder, or his mouth in full view of the public.

Link must have blushed deeply as he saw Ganon smile at him. It had never stopped surprising Link that Ganon was so… like this.

“Come,” Ganon urged him, pushing him up the stairs, “We have a long journey through the highlands ahead of us.”

  
  
  



	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heads up!! There is some graphic content with a lynel getting killed, there is a lot of blood and bones getting snapped, but no uhhh guts and gore? And some Yiga get fried, just so u know

Link cupped the powder snow in his hands and threw it toward the stark clear sky, letting it drop over him.

“The sun is so bright here,” Zelda said as she looked up from the map on her slate. “I didn’t think we would be so lucky.”

“Don’t tempt the winds,” cautioned Ganon. “The temper of the highlands weather is fickle. We have had patrols lose their way when storms came within the blink of an eye.”

Zelda paused, letting her snow boots sink into the powdery drifts. “Is there somewhere we can take shelter if that happens?”

Ganon shook his head. “I doubt you would want to take shelter here if just beyond the door of a cabin you heard Lynels stalking the peaks. This place is nothing but danger. Once a member of patrol had climbed onto a rock to escape the sinking snow and her legs and arms froze to the stone before she realised it was a Talus.”

Ganon laughed at the expression on Zelda’s face. “Don’t worry yourself. She survived with all her legs and arms attached.”

Zelda sighed and trudged onwards. 

Ganon looked back to Link standing several yards away, still staring below at the haze of the Gerudo desert where Van Naboris’ colossal body was visible standing watch over the town. Retracing his steps, Ganon walked back to Link and pulled the belts that held his scabbard in place.

“Keep going,” Ganon urged the little Hylian. “Or the Lizalfos will eat you.” 

Link scoffed and ducked from Ganon’s hand aiming to pinch his ear. The golden beads in Link’s braids clacked as he tried to run ahead, the spiked snow boots aiding him to get away from Ganon.

  
  


When they reached the summit of the Gerudo Highlands a cloud cover was coming in from the west. Zelda was out of breath and freezing despite the fur lined clothing gifted to her by the Rito meant to weather the Hebra mountains. Nonetheless, the excitement drove her forward to find the sword of the eighth missing Gerudo heroine. 

Having surveyed the flattened snow cover of the summit, Link left Zelda be and went to the cliff edge to look down across the desert. There was a fog in the air as small flakes of snow drifted from the oncoming clouds. He smiled when he heard Ganon step beside him.

“I have not been here since I was a youth,” Ganon told him. “Urbosa struggled to keep me on a tight leash as I went hunting for every monster I could think of roaming our domain.”

Link laughed. ‘I can hardly imagine that,’ he said.

“I suppose I learned my duty with time. Stopped hunting myths and uncovering ruins.”

‘That sounds like Zelda.’

“Maybe that’s why I found some sort of kinship with her.”

Link leaned his shoulder against Ganon’s side and a wide, gloved hand pressed against his back. 

‘I’m glad she isn’t alone,’ Link said, not particularly caring if Ganon saw. He closed his eyes and breathed the cold air.

Ganon shifted beside him, but his hand didn’t leave Link’s back so he didn’t open his eyes. He felt Ganon lean down toward him. 

A warm touch brushed on Link’s cheek and he cracked open his eyes to see red hair in the wind. Bright red—

Panic stilled his senses. The bright red of the mottled hair that covered the back of the mutated creature in the chamber below the castle. Too many limbs—distorted body— the spikes of mechanisms half buried in the flesh— 

Link threw himself aside, stumbling.

“Link, are you—“

He tried to wave Ganon away, tell him he was fine, but nausea rolled his stomach. His eyes watered as he stumbled away, ignoring whatever may have been shouted after him. 

Vomit filled Link’s mouth, his feet dragged through the snow as he barely made the effort to lift them up. He kept his head down as he ran, ignoring that he was rushing to meet the black clouds moving in from the west.

Link had finally stopped when the sun was gone and he felt the prickle of falling snow on his skin. He looked up and realised he did not recognise where he was and a mountain fog had covered the horizon from sight. Then, came the freezing wind and the flurry of a storm.

Just as Ganon had cautioned, the weather changed with barely a warning. The wind picked up, carrying snow that blinded Link. He tried to look through the fog of the storm, but any landmarks of the summit were gone as he could barely see three yards ahead. 

Link stood in silence with hands pulling the collar of his tunic up to his nose as he tried to silence his panic. Have courage, have courage. But there is a difference between courage and the stupidity of not knowing when to admit defeat. He was lost, Link had to admit, and it was his fault. 

If he kept walking inevitably he would lose his sense of direction even more. He better find Zelda and Ganon.

His voice sounded like barely more than a rasp as he shouted their names. The cold mountain air burned as he inhaled and cried out again, his voice weaker and weaker.

Link heard the zap of energy before the arrows hit the snow around him. Only a small jolt aside saved him from the blaze of an icy arrow hitting his back. Link stared at the crackling arrow heads before his hand snapped to the hilt of the Master Sword.

Link turned, the blade held outward. Through the hum of the wind he heard hooves shattering the icy crust of the snow. The flash of armour and huge blade, the spark of fire in the monster’s breath.

Link bit his tongue as he threw himself aside just in time to miss the Lynel’s charge. He fell and rolled across the snow as the Lynel swerved to a stop. Their eyes met and panic clamped on Link’s throat. 

He could have taken the monster on any other day with ease, but his mind was shrouded with terror and all his instincts told him to flee while something between shame and guilt told him to stand his ground.

Link got up, vision blurred, body shaking, sword gripped in his numb hands. Better be done with this quick, he thought. Link charged forward and swung his sword, slashing across the Lynel’s front legs. It heaved a growl but seemed barely affected by the attack as it lifted itself onto its hind legs and gripped its blade in both hands. 

So stupid, Link thought to himself moments before the blade was sheafed in the snow right before his face. The force of it flung him back, the chained hilt hitting his face. He thought he felt his teeth crack.

Stupid, so stupid. Link scrambled to get up as his vision swam, his body dragged like it was made of stone. He felt blood dribble from his mouth. Get up, you fucking fool.

He dodged the slash of the Lynel’s sword and jabbed his own up at the chest of its horse-like body below the armour plate. The Lynel’s blood oozed onto the snow and Link but it didn’t deter it.

The Lynel slammed down its front hooves, forcing Link to cinch in on himself before he was grabbed by the belts on his clothing and thrown across the snow. He wished he had a bow as he struggled to get up once again to at least slow down the Lynel by shooting it in the face as it charged at him. 

“Link—!”

Arrows shot through the snow, hitting the Lynel’s neck one after the other. It howled and swatted at the arrows as Zelda ran between the monster and Link. She withdrew the kunai lent to her by Impa and slashed across the Lynel’s chest, drawing lines of red on its silver fur before darting and grabbing hold of Link and dragging him away.

Warm blood was sprayed in arcs on the snow. Zelda’s shots were true and they kept the Lynel distracted, but they wouldn’t get away. 

Footsteps thundered and pained howl broke the air. A large body collapsed in the snow and finally Link turned to look back. 

The Lynel had fallen in the snow, maimed by deep gashes across its heaving sides. Scimitars flashed as they were thrusted into the beast’s shoulder blades, preventing it from moving again. One blade was yanked back and used to gore the monster's gut, twisted deep as the air crackle like a storm was gathering. Except there were no thunderclouds and yet sparks flew from the twin blades.

Link had seen Ganon fight the Gerudo guards in the yard for drills, he had even fought Ganon himself, but he had never seen him fight with the aim to kill - to destroy. He had never seen the brutal, ruthless power that Ganon used as he crushed the Lynel down into the snow and thrusted both of the scimitars into the ribs and ripped them down as the Lynel screamed and struggled for its life. With every rib that the metal hit the crackles of lightning became brighter, louder like a storm rolling in from the deep pits of the sky. 

It was nothing like Urbosa’s lightning that she summoned with her anger. It was more brutal, vicious, boiling with power.

Lightning snapped and Link shielded his eyes from the blinding glow. Then there was silence besides Zelda’s broken breathing next to Link’s ear as she turned.

“Ganon? Are you alright?” he heard her ask. Link looked up.

The red covered the snow and Ganon’s hands as he yanked out the scimitars from the beast’s still body. The air smelled of burned fur and flesh. Ganon stepped from the carcass, frowning as he sheathed the scimitars. When he looked down at Link his eyes felt like they were burning through him with the same lightning that tore the Lynel.

“You didn’t listen to any of my warnings,” he said to Link with a rough voice.

Link’s face dropped.

The fury melted from Ganon as he sighed. “Are you okay?”

Link showed the blood on his teeth that he knew had poured down his chin. He was surprised to feel that none were broken. 

“Come.” Ganon reached down to grab him around his waist and knees but Link jolted back. “You look like you can barely stand.”

The only thing that kept Link from stepping away further was Zelda’s hold on him. His hands were too numb so he rasped, “I can walk.”

Ganon frowned at him but didn’t question Link as he stumbled away. He felt shame and doubt from his fear.

  
  
  


They made it safely to the desert below using the gangways built into the canyon. There was a murky quality to the air from the sand that lifted from the dunes by the strong winds. It was the warning of a sandstorm and they made the choice to wait through it at an outpost before returning to the town. 

The watchtower outpost was built around a spire of sandstone with a ladder leading to a platform beaten into the peak. In the cabin below, there was a bed, dried rations, and pit for a fire. A wind vane was posted outside in the shape of a leaping dragon, its copper back reflected the faint sun as it spun frantically in the storm.

Link was picking at his gloves inside the cabin, scrubbing out the flakes of blood from when he wiped his face. Zelda was asleep in the cot, sat up against the wall with her bow in her lap. 

The scorching wind of the desert blew against Link when he opened the door and stepped out of the cabin. Ripples of sand ran between his feet as the dunes shifted below the outpost. Ganon sat unmoving on the steps, his chin on his fist, the grey fur of his winter clothes was coloured red and brown by the dried blood. The wind toyed with his unbound hair, making the golden beads clack and click until Link stepped behind him and gathered it in his hands. 

“We can go soon,” Ganon muttered without looking back as Link quickly twisted his hair into a braid.

With his own hair long enough to match Zelda’s, Link was in a habit of carrying something to tie it up with - whether a ribbon or string. He tied the end of Ganon’s hair with a blue leather cord and tossed it over his shoulder.

Ganon looked at the end of the braid and slowly took it into his hand, squeezing his fist over the cord. After a moment he said, “I apologise if I frightened you, on the summit.”

Link raised his hands and then squeezed them into fists. 

The door of the cabin opened and Zelda stepped out, sluggish from the brief sleep. She was holding out the sheikah slate in her hands. Link and Ganon turned to her expectantly.

“Looks like the map is working again,” she said. “We can start going.” But instead of beginning the march through the dune, Zelda frowned down at the slate screen and tapped her fingers on the casing.

Link sagged under the weight of his own shoulders. ‘I’m sorry we left so quickly,’ he told her.

Zelda’s face brightened momentarily. “We will have other opportunities to climb the summit. We may have seen the sword of the eighth heroine but not the statue herself and I know Ganondorf has seen it. Right?” At his nod she went on, “You are still willing to show us the way?”

“Lady Urbosa or any of the captains know the way just as well as I,” Ganon told her. “If you just ask they would be willing to take you there.”

Zelda grinned. “I wonder why they would know the way. Is it because of years of chasing a young Gerudo voe who escaped to climb the highlands because he desperately wanted to study the relics?”

Ganon looked down at his hands resting on his scimitars, Link could clearly see him flush. “I— Hmm.” 

Link grinned.

Zelda sighed. “Alright, we better set off before the weather changes its mind again. Shall we?”

Even in the murk of the sand the desert temperatures were scorching. Maybe they should have waited for night. Link was sweating heavily in his snow clothes, even with the ties mostly undone and gloves shoved into his pockets. He followed Zelda’s lead with his head down against the wind.

They were on the crest of a dune, peering down at the cloud of sand where Gerudo Town ought to stand when they saw the cracks of lightning in the murk.

Zelda quickly activated the scope on the sheikah slate and squinted at the grainy image. Another spark slashed across the screen, making her jump back, bumping against Link. 

“I— Ganon, is that Urbosa’s lightning?” She asked, not turning her eyes from the screen. 

Link didn’t need the confirmation as he started to run down the dune, but he heard Ganon say, “Without a doubt.”

When Link tumbled to the bottom of the dune, he looked at the murk and saw shadows start to form. He recognised the glint of the Gerudo armour and their tall spears pointed against hunched figures armed with circular blades. The Gerudo were outnumbered; not days ago troops of the Gerudo were sent out to help the Zora clear their borders, creating a dent in the town’s defences.

“Come,” Ganon urged without losing momentum as he ran past Link, quickly gaining speed on the sand, “We must help them!”

A slash of wind cut through the sand and Link stopped his advance as he saw a Yiga blade master step out into the light toward them. Link gritted his teeth as he reached for his own sword and leaped aside from the slash that pierced the air and pounced onto the red clothed warrior.

Link slammed the Master Sword into the Yiga’s stomach and slashed it as he pulled out the blade. He didn’t turn to look if the warrior was still alive as Link continued to run toward the source of the lightning that was becoming more and more erratic. 

Arrows shot ahead and scimitars slashed in Link’s peripheral as he continued to run. He cut down the Yiga, leaving them for the Gerudo soldiers. He could see the green sparks of lightning come closer and closer.

A circular spiked blade slammed into Link, throwing him off his course toward Urbosa. His head spinned as he rolled across the sand. He wheezed through the pain in his chest and scrambled onto his knees as he watched arrow after arrow slam into the Yiga before a strike of ember coloured lightning shot through the air, striking them down.

Link got up and continued to dash. A Yiga blademaster wielding two wind cleavers was pressing Urbosa back into the circle of archers that surrounded her. Every second she had she would turn and send another snap of lightning as her soldiers struggled to reach her.

Link ran to help push back the circle with Zelda as Ganon rushed into the centre toward Urbosa.

A blow of lightning, a thunderclap that roared like a forest fire in his ears knocked Link down with the ranks of the Yiga and Gerudo. The static shock passed through Link but it did not harm him. The same could not be said for the Yiga who were burned before his eyes. Cloth and flesh alike, it was all the same to the lightning summoned by Ganon. 

Link turned as he braced himself against the shockwave and saw Ganon slam both of his scimitars down onto the Yiga warrior. Link could not turn away as lightning cracked again, sending webs of light through the battlefield.

Shining on the back of Ganon’s right hand, as bright as the burnished lightning, was the symbol of the Triforce. A flash blinded the warriors and thunder deafened the dunes.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is some very brief smut in the second part of this chapter :> everything will go down hill from here

Link, Zelda, and Ganon stood below the throne steps, scraped and mildly burned. Urbosa was seated on the edge of the throne itself, holding a scimitar in front of her, having used it like a crutch to seat herself. 

It was odd to see the Gerudo warrior in such a state. Urbosa was covered in cuts and deep gauges all over her exposed skin. Her skirt was torn and hair loose, bruises were appearing on her face but the fury in her eyes did not extinguish.

“The bodies can be thrown as bait to the Molduga,” she said. “It’s been long since we hunted. Will you be willing to take the lead on that, Gan?” 

Saying nothing, Ganon nodded. 

Urbosa turned to the Hylians. “Princess Zelda, was your search successful in the highlands?”

Link saw Zelda cringe from the corner of his eye. “A snowstorm hindered us,” she said. “But I was told by Ganon that I could return some time if someone is willing to accompany me.”

Urbosa laughed. “If he isn’t dragging you out there himself I’ll find you escorts gladly.”

Ganon grumbled something under his breath and stepped from foot to foot, catching Urbosa’s attention. Her expression soured a little as she looked down at his hands held behind his back. 

“Now as for today’s discovery…” Urbosa sighed. “So the three parts of the whole have now been revealed to us.”

Ganon finally lifted up his bare right hand and looked at it. There was nothing on it, no mark to indicate the symbol that had burned on it not that long ago. 

“Had I known…” Urbosa went on. “Well, thank you for not using your guards or myself as target practise, despite us offering.”

By some strange instinct, Link reached out and placed his hand over the back of Ganon’s palm. Simultaneously, the Triforce symbols sparked on their skin. One was furious like fire, the other like sunlight through a tree canopy. 

Link looked up at Urbosa and then to Zelda who stood aside looking at their connected hands with a somber, heavy look on her face.

“We can’t speak of this,” Urbosa said suddenly. “A handful of the Yiga clan warriors had seen that symbol on Ganon’s hand including Sooga, but many are no longer alive or were too blinded by the lightning to even make sense of what they saw. Sooga vanished before you managed to finish him. Somehow—-hah! Still, we cannot let this information escape. The Calamity will surely come seeking the Triforce of Power and desire to consume the other pieces.”

Link looked up at Ganon and saw the green glowing mark on his hand reflected in the golden eyes that were staring at it in a fascinated daze. Link snatched away his hand and the mark on Ganon’s skin extinguished. 

“It does not matter if the wielder of the Triforce has good or bad intentions at heart, the power will bend to them,” Zelda muttered like she was distantly recalling something she was taught. She sighed. “If only things stopped being so uncertain, so murky and we had one point of attack to aim for… If we knew what to expect.”

Zelda approached Ganon and he did not pull away when she placed her own hand over his. Nothing happened and she only smiled. 

“Princess Zelda,” Urbosa interrupted her thoughts, to Link’s relief. “Let me show you to the room for you, you look like you could use some rest after days in the mountains.” Pushing herself up with the scimitar, Urbosa stood and walked down to Zelda, offering her the crook of her arm to link her own through. 

Zelda flushed as she took Urbosa’s arm and held back a shy smile as the Gerudo warrior led her out. 

The only ones left in the throne room were Link and Ganon. Link found himself unable to look up at him again. The somber mood made Link want to excuse himself and find a bed at an inn to sleep for at least several hours. But a hand on his shoulder stopped him. He looked down at Ganon’s scabbed knuckles and sand beaten nails.

“We haven’t slept in two days. I am tired,” Ganon huffed. “Come.” He tugged Link from the throne room, keeping a hand against Link’s back as they walked through the palace halls to the King’s bedroom.

With barely an eye open, Link had scrubbed himself clean and ate before dropping into the obnoxiously large bed and rolling himself into the blankets with his head still wet from washing. He wasn’t aware of Ganon dropping down beside him or falling asleep.

  
  
  


It was still cool from the night when Link woke up sprawling on his back with his mouth open. His hair was tangled in his eyes and his tongue was dry. He curled in on his side and looked across to where Ganon slept. The Gerudo was completely lax with exhaustion, sunken into the mattress with his body limp, his wild hair a mess shoved into his face. Link could hear faint snores muffled by the pillow Ganon held hostage with one arm.

Link shoved himself up the mattress and inched toward Ganon. He touched his jaw, feeling the rough bristles of his red beard and then burrowed his hand through the tangles of his hair until he felt the curve of his neck. Link stroked the softer strands on the nape before pushing his fingers up toward the crown of Ganon’s head, tangling his hand with the Gerudo’s wild hair, feeling the kinked traces of braids. 

Ganon turned in his sleep, pushing his head against Link’s chest. He felt the nudge of the sharp nose, warm breath on his skin, and the scruff of the beard scrape. Link was overcome with an odd urge to squeeze both of his arms around Ganon. But he bit down on that feeling until it made no more noise.

When Link opened his eyes again he was startled by a kiss being pressed to his lips. He woke up so suddenly he went cross eyed before he coordinated himself into pushing Ganon away.

“Am I not even allowed a kiss?” Ganon mumbled past the palms that were trying to seal his mouth. 

“Why?” Link breathed.

Ganon rolled his eyes underneath the mess of his red hair. “I will have to get out of this bed soon and by the time I will return you will be gone,” he said. “It’ll be several weeks before I see you.”

Link felt blood rush to his face. He pinched his lips with his teeth, trying to restrain his expression. 

Ganon made an innocent expression behind his hands. “No kiss for me?” He raised his brows, seeming to look up at Link.

Moving his hands to Ganon’s jaw, Link rolled his eyes and sighed. But the sigh barely left his lips before he was kissed again. He choked on his breath as Ganon dropped his leg over Link’s, pinning him to the bed, and dragged him in closer with an arm around his back.

The kisses were lazy and open mouthed. Link felt his hair being tugged, combed out by hands, before migrating to his shoulders, his back, squeezing his hips as fingers inched past the waistband of the sleeping pants he pulled on. 

Ganon was wearing no necklaces or clothing to grab, so Link yanked on his hair. He gasped into Ganon’s mouth when he felt a broad, warm hand sink into his pants. His ass was squeezed in the large palm and used for leverage to yank Link closed against Ganon. There was no hiding that he was hard.

Link bit down on Ganon’s lip and whimpered. He was shoved onto his back as Ganon curled an arm around his shoulders while his other hand pushed the pants down past his hips. Link looked down as Ganon wrapped his hand around his cock, fingers covering it whole so easily.

Link felt a kiss against his ear, followed by a bite. Ganon was lazily toying with him, running his large fist up and down his cock as Link struggled not to flex his hips to thrust into Ganon’s fist - trying to restrain himself. It was a useless attempt, really. It was always so damn easy to lose his mind with Ganon.

Link moaned in a broken voice as he bit on his own hand before it was pushed away and replaced by fingers being pressed into his mouth, gagging him. Link whimpered through the two fingers thrusting against his tongue, stroking it, fucking his mouth as his temple was kissed. With desperate small jerks Link fucked Ganon’s hot fist as the sounds became wetter, slicker. He sucked on the fingers in his mouth, drooling and whimpering every time he felt a bite on his ear, followed by soft murmurs that he couldn’t distinguish. 

With a sudden jerk of his hips that made Link squeeze his thighs together and curl in on himself, Link came all over Ganon’s fist. Slowly, fingers were pulled out from his mouth and he watched Ganon put the cum slick palm to his own mouth. Link covered his eyes and whimpered as he heard Ganon lick the mess with broad, satisfied strokes of his tongue like it was syrup.

“Thank you for the kiss,” Ganon laughed.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If u are by any chance not following me on tumblr and would like to see more about the AU including doodles, [please do join me on there](https://st-hedge.tumblr.com/). I’m also on [twitter](https://twitter.com/st_hedge/) but i don’t tweet about ship-y stuff
> 
> Alas! Let the angst and misunderstandings begin!

Link rammed the ancient spear into the joint between the scout guardian’s ‘neck’ and head, thrusting inwards as he felt the glowing blue blade sink through the mechanisms. There was a squeak, a screech and bright light emitted from the centre of the guardian as its limbs frantically spun around, trying to shove Link off to prevent further damage to its malfunctioning core.

However, it was too late and sparks flew as Link used the spear to gently hop over the head of the guardian and land on the other side with the spear in hand and his back to Zelda and Purah. Both of them had their chins in their hands. Link rolled his shoulders against the ancient armour plates strapped onto him.

Purah started to clap. “Excellent! Pure elegance as always, Linky!” 

“Huh, he is starting to gut those like they are bokoblins,” Link heard Zelda mutter as he continued to stand in defence. “Are you sure this isn’t being too much of an expense for you and Robbie?”

“Nonsense! I told you we need to test the armour and weapons against a worthy opponent. Plus, we need to know the weaknesses of the guardians for our own benefit.”

Link watched the limbs of the scout fall limp on the floor of the lab. Besides him, Zelda, Purah, and the remains of the destroyed scouts, there was no one else in the room that was cleared to form an arena out of ancient relic junk. They had been testing the scouts through the morning until evening. 

Zelda hummed in thought. “I guess. Still seems like a shame.”

Purah came to dance into Link’s view as she started to pull and prod at the prototype plates tied over the skin tight black clothing. “The guardians are a formidable weapon in our hands,” she said. “But what if their alliance can be changed, what then? We will be turned to dust without being able to defend ourselves from them. We need to know the weak spots!”

Link winced. He would not want to find himself on the other side of the guardian’s tracking beam. He could deal with the scouts, but the huge guardians that patrolled Hyrule’s defences? To hack at the neither stone nor metal body while the red beam simply glared down at him before firing the laser, blowing him into ash? He had seen it happen to the creatures around the castle moat.

“Speaking of which, princess, you should try the bow Robbie had been able to make with that… oven of his. It’s still in the works, but I think you ought to test it on these scouts.”

“A bow—?”

“There are also arrows in production—Here is one—“

Link lost focus of their words as he thumped the spear into a resting position. The blades withdrew. The blue shears weren’t hot like a flame so they didn’t cauterise, but they melted through flesh and metal alike as if they were made from pure magma. Link was still cautious with using ancient weapons, but he enjoyed their efficiency. 

Standing like a guard on duty, Link stared down at the dark eye socket of the scout. His breathing was already even. Slowly, Link’s eyes slid down to the smooth stone floor as Zelda and Purah busied themselves with the weapons. 

Link had thought it was them when he heard the grating of metal on stone. But then he saw the shifting of the scout’s shadow. Link instantly stepped into an attack position and pointed the spear at the guardian’s shifting head as its bulbous eye came to life.

The red laser shot forward, piercing into Link. He froze as he stared at the guardian and heard it’s frantic blipping counting down to fatality. It felt uncanny. It was just a small scout guardian in the Royal Lab, but in his mind Link was pinned under the eye of a mutated guardian, half metal half flesh face with mottled streaks of red hair— Surrounded by guardians in the mud of a battlefield—

Link was shoved and an arrow with a spark of blue shot forward and the guardian scout was consumed by the flare. It jerked and spun, swinging its armed limbs as Zelda stood in defence in front of Link, holding out a bow glowing with the aura of ancient technology. 

The guardian broke out in fumes and embers as it began to collapse, still rapidly spinning out of control. Link saw it coming too close and grabbed hold of Zelda from behind, yanking her aside as an ancient battle axe protruding from the guardian’s body flung toward her, almost cutting her neck. Instead, it sheared her hair, nicking the prim collar of her travel clothes.

They tumbled onto the floor as the guardian squealed and sparked, finally collapsing on the floor in pieces.

“Well, now at least I know the arrows work,” Purah declared. 

“What was that!” Zelda exclaimed as she climbed onto her feet, the bow still clenched in her fist.

“Must’ve not hit the core hard enough.” Purah explained, so calmly as if she wasn’t in the vicinity of an out of control scout.

Link remained on the floor still staring at the guardian’s remains before Zelda helped him up, almost falling with his weight before they balanced each other out. Link stared at the uneven chunks of her hair. One side was untouched while the other was shorn to her shoulder. 

“You had that weird look again,” Zelda told him. “You don’t seem hurt—?”

Link shook his head - he was fine. He concentrated on the lopsided cut of Zelda’s hair to avoid looking at her eyes. She followed his stare and seemed to finally notice the mess the guardian made.

“Oh,” Zelda laughed. “Well then.”

“Want me to chop the other side off?” Purah offered, holding up a small knife made of the same blue glowing material as the ancient weapons.

“Oh that’s new,” wondered Zelda.

“Just a fun little tool I made,” Purah said, twirling the knife. “Now come here, it’ll just be a quick chop.” 

Holding the chunk of Zelda’s hair in her hand, Purah sliced through it with the blade. Blonde strands fell away across the floor, undoing the braid that held back Zelda’s hair. She shook her head as the kinked pieces sprang loose in the lopsided mess.

Link undid the tie on his hair, letting it drop to the midpoint of his back. Then, he reached out toward Zelda and waited for her to lean down a little so he could comb his fingers through her hair. Link ruffled her fringe and gathered a portion of her hair back before tying it in a small ponytail. When Zelda straightened her back, Link startled himself by laughing. 

It was almost as if they had swapped appearances from when they were seventeen. Zelda looked like the spitting image of her knight while he, with the long undone hair which became a paler shade of blonde from being in the sun, looked like the princess. 

  
  


* * *

  
  


It felt unusual, ridiculous even, to see Zelda dressed like this: Floor length embellished gown, delicate golden bracers, crown and a dozen necklaces. Ganon was more used to seeing Link like this. It managed to overshadow the fact that her hair had been shorn to her shoulders.

“I don’t have the strength to push him further for answers, but I know you won’t mind forcing his hand a little,” Zelda told him as they walked through the hallway of the more secluded part of the Hyrule castle.

“I have not seen much of either of you to understand what is happening,” Ganon remarked, but didn’t rebuke.

Zelda slowed her steps until she stopped, Ganon beside her, waiting. She held her fist against her chest as she looked down with a strained expression.

“I don’t often see my sworn knight fear something,” Zelda said. “But there have recently been moments when I felt terror surround him and when I ask what’s the matter he just shrugs.” She looked Ganon in the eyes. “Do you understand?”

Ganon sighed. He hardly felt he understood the extent of it.

“This morning Impa told me she found Link sleeping against my door. He had dismissed the guards and took the post. Without sleeping all night, I’m assuming.”

“Lead on,” Ganon told her. 

It might have looked suspicious for the Hyrulian Princess to lead the King of the Gerudo into her solar, but the maids were dismissed and there was no one to see the meeting in that part of the castle. 

Like a mirror image of the Princess standing beside Ganon, Link was waiting on the window seat, dressed in the duplicate of Zelda’s gown. He looked at Ganon with stark surprise and then at Zelda with suspicion. There were sleepless bruises under his eyes.

‘Is it time?’ Link asked.

Zelda raised her hand to stop him from standing up. “Before you leave I thought you might be willing to brief our guest,” she said. “I will be back soon, I must change into my uniform.”

She didn’t allow Link to answer before she left. The little Hylian kept staring at the door as Ganon approached him to lean against the wall beside him. 

“Hello, princess,” Ganon said, waiting for Link to turn to him.

Link seemed to startle but he made a small wave before asking, ‘Will you be joining us in the Rito village to drive back the monsters from the Hebra mountains?’

“I’m sure Revali will enjoy a bigger audience for his marksmanship with Vah Medoh.” Then he added, “It’ll be a fun hunt afterwards.”

Link made an amused noise, but still seemed to be willing himself to acknowledge Ganon. It made him frown and a small desperate part of him wanted to demand attention from Link. But he looked so tired, Ganon wanted to yank Link out of that stiff dress and shove into bed to sleep.

Ganon almost gave into it when there was a small knock on the door and a moment later Princess Mipha entered the solar. The small Zora stumbled back a step through the threshold when she saw Ganon, but then righted herself and smiled as she stepped into the bright room.

“King Ganondorf, it is a pleasure to see you,” Mipha said with a courtly bow.

“You too, Princess Mipha,” Ganon inclined his head to her.

“I was looking for Princess Zelda,” Mipha explained. “Link,” she turned to the knight, “would you happen to know where I could find her?”

From the corner of his eye, Ganon saw a smug look creep up on Link’s face. ‘She said is changing into the guard’s uniform. You should try her bedroom.’

The Zora Princess flushed. “Ah—Thank you, I will.” Mipha turned to leave the solar when she paused and looked back at Link again. “I like the change of hair, Link,” she said. “It’s been a while since I saw you like that. Would you— Do you mind if I put it into braids like I do for Zelda?”

Link seemed to be surprised by the request but he beckoned the Princess to him. 

Ganon watched in amusement as the Zora Princess approached the knight and removed the delicate ruby crown from his hair. The two conversed as Ganon watched Mipha pleat Link’s fringe into twisted braids which she connected at the base of his neck, tucking his hair out of his face before replacing the crown.

When Link looked up at Mipha, he gave her a wide smile. Mipha laughed and cupped his cheeks before nudging his forehead with her own.

Something stabbed through Ganon’s chest. It was vicious and cold. He had been ignoring that feeling for months and it took him a while to realise it was jealousy. It had disgusted him to feel it.

He didn’t know why that feeling was there. Maybe it was because as of recently the little Hylian knight had been pushing away every touch Ganon offered to him, flinching from his hands and turning his head away when Ganon tried to kiss him.

Ganon had assumed that Link was simply not interested in anyone’s approaches of touch. But there he was, letting the little Zora Princess to hold him like that. The last time Ganon had even tried to touch him, Link yanked himself away like he was going to be sick. 

Granted, at first it was when he had touched Link without warning, scaring him a little. But then it became every other touch.

Link was not bound to Ganon in any way, he didn’t have a right to keep Link. Yet Ganon didn’t want to go back to the year when they met under the dubious circumstances. He didn’t want that anymore. Yet what he wanted was unattainable.

“Ganondorf—“

Mipha’s voice struck Ganon out of his spiralling thoughts. He looked at her startled face and then Link’s.

“I apologise,” Mipha started, stepping away from Link. “I must have interrupted something, I won’t disturb you any longer.”

Ganon watched Mipha quickly leave the room and then looked down at Link. “Huh?” was all he managed. 

Link made a face back at him. ‘You looked like you wanted to kill something,’ he said. 

Ganon scoffed, then once more, before shaking head and pushing himself away from the wall. His heavy, iron soled boots stomped across the red and blue carpet in circles before he finally stopped. 

There was a long, dragging silence before Ganon finally forced the words out of his mouth. “Zelda is concerned for you,” he said as he stared at Link. 

The knight frowned but said nothing.

“If you continue to frighten her with your behaviour I will have no choice but to stuff you into a sack, tie it to a saddle, send you all the way to Gerudo Town, and then lock you in a cell until you slept that stupidity off.” Ganon felt a little out of breath. “Understood?” 

Link had a tight lipped expression on his face, bordering onto a snarl. 

Before Ganon could reprimand him again, the doors into the solar opened once more. In came Mipha and Zelda who was now dressed as a royal guard and carrying a royal blue bundle in her arms.

The Hylian princess seemed a little shy as she approached them, arms outstretched to Ganon with the bundle.

“As a champion of Hyrule and the pilot of Vah Naboris, you ought to have this,” she said and immediately stepped back when Ganon accepted the blue fabric.

The cloth unfurled in Ganon’s hands and he recognised it to be the same fabric that was tied around Mipha’s chest in a sash and what Link’s champion’s tunic was stitched from.

Ganon’s expression was more of a grimace than a smile. “This is—uh—“ He bit down. “Thank you.” 

He wanted to throw down the blue cloth and he didn’t know why. He didn’t have a stitch of malice toward the Princess but he knew he would never wear the champion’s colours. Maybe he wanted to throw it down at Link’s feet instead. 


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A break up and some very angry fucking in this chapter :3c

The troops of Hylian, Zora, and Gerudo soldiers set out on the path toward Tabantha after all of the courtly formalities that even left Zelda yawning behind the seat of the decoy princess. The long train of soldiers wound toward the snowy fog that surrounded the Rito village with the Hylian Princess at the head of the procession. 

At the midway point of their journey, they paused at a large Hylian outpost which had been expecting them with stables, tents, and rooms ready for the night. 

Link was glad to finally climb off the white horse lent to him by Zelda, dragging the heavy skirt of the travel dress after him. He enjoyed horseback journeys, he had ridden all over Hyrule more times than he could count, but he would never do it in a dress, sitting sideways, while moving at the pace of a Talus. 

Link held back the urge to crack his back as he wobbled away from the horse, letting soldiers take it to the outpost stable. After an entire day since dawn of keeping up the act, Link was struggling to keep the regal composure. He couldn’t wait to go up the room kept for him and change into his own travel clothes. The luggage should be delivered there before him.

Link stepped into the doorway of the main building of the outpost and watched the Gerudo ranks begin to enter the walled grounds. All their horses seemed so immense that the Hylian mounts compared to them were like ponies for teaching children riding lessons. Yet Ganon’s black and red stallion was the most impressive out of them all. 

The stallion bared its teeth and stomped its hooves at the other horses as Ganon oversaw his warriors entering the outpost. He wore the heavy winter clothes without his usual golden jewellery, instead clothed in black and steel armour. Link was surprised to see the absence of the champion blue of the sash that Zelda gifted him, he was shocked to find that it disappointed him.

Ganon finally followed suit into the outpost. He didn’t notice Link; he was watching Zelda speak to the captains. She was dressed in Link’s blue tunic with a cloak and extra layers, still playing the role of the Hylian champion while the captains were aware of the act they would put on.

Ganon dismounted from his horse and walked up to Zelda, unnoticed by her. Link watched from the step of the doorway into the keep as Ganon came closer toward Zelda. His hand was reached out as if he was intending to grab her—

A cruel man in black from the desert—

A phantom on a horse— Thunder underneath the hooves—

Panic spiked in Link’s gut and he acted before he knew what he meant to do. He ran to Zelda and the captains, grabbed a sword from someone’s scabbard and swung it in an arc toward Ganon.

Looking down the steel of the sword at Ganon’s blank, unflinching expression, Link mouthed, ‘Don’t you dare.’ 

Zelda’s confused cry broke Link out of the stupor as he dropped the point of the sword to the ground. Wide eyed, he looked at Zelda and then at Ganon. 

“Where were you doing—!” Zelda hissed, trying to keep her voice, and grabbed hold of Link’s arm as if he would try to attack again.

“I think we need to speak in private, Princess,” Ganon interrupted her as he looked directly at Link.

A chill pricked Link’s skin when he met Ganon’s golden stare.

“We have an overdue discussion.” Ganon jerked his chin toward the keep without taking his eyes off Link.

Stiffly, he nodded and handed the sword to Zelda. Picking up his skirts from the dirt, he turned to the stone building and walked inside, letting in the drifting snow behind him.

Walking through the corridors with rigid shoulders, Link listened to the iron-soled footsteps following him. He tried to come up with a reason for his actions before reaching the room meant for him. How would it sound to Ganon if Link told him he is the subject of his nightmares.

Link pressed his way through the heavy wooden door, allowing it to swing open behind him as he walked past the bed and the luggage to the fireplace where the embers were sinking into the charred logs.

Heavy, solemn footsteps dragged into the room and the door was shut. They were alone. 

“I am waiting for you to explain yourself,” Ganon said without taking another step toward Link. 

Squaring his shoulders, Link opened his mouth like he could speak his fears. Instead, he just held his breath. 

“I am waiting, Link,” Ganon repeated, but there was still no answer from the Hylian knight.

“Do you really not want me near anything that you care about or even yourself?”

Link swallowed on air. It would be easier to fight Ganon with a blade than try to explain. Even Link did not understand what was happening in his mind. 

“You let everyone near you, but you put a sword to my neck. I want to know why.”

Then, the footsteps approached and Link hunched forward.

“Have I ever done anything to hurt those around you?”

Link shook his head; no, even when he seemed like an unknown enemy, he had never been anything but courteous.

“And you— Have I ever hurt you?” There was an earnestness cutting through Ganon’s heavy tone that made Link want to turn around, tear his hands into Ganon’s hair and— scream? Kiss him? 

Link shook his head again. 

“Then what is this?”

Link was grabbed by the shoulder and turned around. He looked up at Ganon and grimaced at the expression on the man’s face. Then, his jaw was grabbed and he was being kissed, beard scratching his skin as teeth bore into his lip. He gave as good as he was given, snarling into the kiss before he was yanked back like a dog on a leash. 

“You only let me touch you when it’s like this,” Ganon said, his words beating against Link’s lips, the anger of every word burning his mouth. 

Link turned aside his eyes. Yes, Ganon never failed to distract him from the thoughts he feared. Ironic as it was.

Ganon squeezed his hand around Link’s jaw, forcing him to look up. “Is this how you want it to be? How it was?” He asked. “Just strangers fucking for the sake of fucking?”

Link glared, teeth bared. He allowed himself to be backed toward the bed, never taking his eyes off Ganon’s furious face.

“Did you— Do you really want it to be how it was at the beginning.” Ganon placed his hand on the back of Link’s neck, squeezing the necklaces into his skin. “When this was all just a favour to distract you?”

Link shut his eyes and pressed his lips together. He refused to raise his hands to speak. 

The edge of the mattress hit Link’s thighs and he was thrown back onto the bed.

“Do you want me to be your whore?” Without a sign from Link, Ganon climbed onto the bed over the Hylian’s small form. “Do you want to use me and then pretend that it disgusts you to be near me?”

Link’s breathing hitched when Ganon leaned down and his hair and the beads of his braids touching his chest and shoulders. The kiss that was pressed against his neck felt like it was filled with anger. 

“Is this what you want?” Ganon whispered. “Do you want me to fuck you?”

When Link said nothing, Ganon repeated, almost snarling. “Is that what  _ you _ want? Tell me,  _ now _ !” 

Link whimpered, “Yes. Fuck me.” He squeezed his eyes shut, cursing his own weakness for Ganon. 

After a beat of silence, Ganon huffed against his ear. “If that is what you wish.”

The dress was torn off Link without a care the stitching and the lacing, snapping the velvet like it was a rag. Link struggled to spite Ganon and growled at him, but his mouth was covered by a palm and he bit into the meat of it, like he was trying to tear skin. Link was grabbed by the mottled pieces of the dress and thrashed until he unclenched his jaw. He rolled onto his back when he was dropped back onto the bed.

Ganon stared down at Link’s furious, red face, and then tore off the ragged remains of the stiff collar around Link’s neck and bit him before continuing down to his chest. He yanked aside the flimsy clothes Link wore underneath the royal dress - the lace and silk that was just there to complete the appearance should what happen.

Link was trapped as Ganon made use of him. But Link knew that if he truly wanted to get away, he only needed to tell Ganon. He didn’t doubt it for a moment.

Link pushed up his knees and with the twist of his legs propelled Ganon onto his back. He flung himself on top of the Gerudo, straddling his torso. Their eyes met and for a moment they both froze, tangled there and breathing heavily through their clenched teeth. 

For a moment, the anger began to slip, but Ganon didn’t allow it as he yanked down Link and bit his collarbone as the silk on his back snapped, splitting with the crack of ripped stitches as pearl buttons scattered. 

It was not long after that Link found himself completely naked and pinned to the bed on his chest with a hand fastened on the back of his neck. He was drooling and whining into the mattress as a large, thick cock was pressed between the cheeks of his ass, slowly thrusting through the slick mess from him being fingered open with his own cum. Ganon started to push his cock inside him without a hurry, taking care of his own pleasure while Link was only an after thought. Link shuddered and squirmed as he felt Ganon slowly enter him, seating the whole burning weight of his dick inside him, hip to hip.

“Is this how you wanted it to be?” Link heard Ganon spit. “You can only bear to be within my vicinity when you don’t have to look at me.”

Link should have said something, argued, maybe explained himself. But those thoughts were knocked out of him when he was stuffed full again with a heavy, deep thrust that rocked him with the mattress. 

“If this is all you want me for.” The words were spoken right against Link’s ear and he could feel the anger and pity for him in every syllable. “If you only want me to fuck you, then have it. Just this one time.”

Link screamed when he was shoved flat onto the bed and mounted properly. He bit down on the sheets and sobbed as Ganon used him. He heard the huffs and groans as Ganon fucked his body. 

With his legs knocked out from under him now Link couldn’t even shove back to take control of the pace. He wanted more, he wanted— Link cried out and started to beat the mattress with his fists until those were restrained too. Link hated himself for enjoying the feeling of being used by Ganon. Every time he was filled up and overwhelmed by the heavy, hot feeling of Ganon pressing down on top of him, knocking the breath out of his chest, Link felt like he was on the edge. 

Link knew Ganon felt it when he came all over the sheets and his torn skirt. Ganon stopped fucking him only for a split moment to scoff. Then, Link was dragged up by the scruff of his neck and seated on Ganon’s broad clothed thighs. He breathed heavily while Ganon simply looked down at him. Hands covered his damp chest, squeezing the pliant muscle, and then he was lifted up.

Link cried out as he was slammed down onto Ganon’s cock, seating his ass flush against the Gerudo’s hips, damp skin against rough fabric. Ganon said nothing else to him as he used Link as a warm sheath for his cock. 

Link thought he felt himself drooling down his chin and neck. He was sensitive to the point of shivering, but he didn’t try to stop Ganon - he didn’t want it to stop. He just hung onto his senses as the movements became more and more feverish.

Barely conscious, Link only squeaked when Ganon squeezed him back against his chest, arms crushing him close, and came inside him. Link felt Ganon’s heart beat against his back and his hair droop around his shoulders. It was like he was about to kiss him. Link sagged, wheezing through his mouth. He felt cum drool out of him, down his thighs and onto Ganon’s still clothed legs. He had done no more than undo his belt before fucking Link. 

There wasn’t any warning or respite before Link was lifted up by his thighs and dropped like a sack of flour onto the mattress as Ganon stood up. Link groaned into the sheets but didn’t even roll over. 

Ganon ignored him and began to right his clothes as though his breathing wasn’t still uneven. He sounded like he was in a hurry and when Link finally heard the iron heels of the boots clomp, he dragged his head up and looked at Ganon through the lopsided mess of his hair. The Gerudo didn’t return his stare.

Link leaned over the side of the bed and grabbed one of the dainty blue boots and threw it at Ganon at full force. It hit his shoulder, barely missing his head. It made Ganon hunch forward for a split second before looking down at Link. 

“What? Did I not give you what you wanted?” he asked without a particular care in his voice.

The anger in Link’s chest split open in a raw wound as he yelled at Ganon, “ _ Fuck you _ !” 

For one barely there moment, Ganon’s eyes widened in shock. But then he just sighed and stormed out of the door.

Link slammed his palms against his face and then leaned his head back and hit it against the mattress as hard as he could, feeling the stuffing bounce. He was furious, angry enough to cry. He wanted to get out of the room and find someone to distract him, someone to fuck, but even the simple, dumb act of sex would bring him back to thinking about Ganon. He wanted to fight someone but it would be so dull, too easy, and then he would want to storm after Ganon and challenge him.

Defeated, Link dropped onto the bed.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that’s the end of the story :’) there is still an epilogue to go but it’ll be pretty short 
> 
> I’m sorry this took so long to update I’ve not had a single chance to come back to this chapter but it’s finally done 
> 
> Warning for some lightning fried Yiga

“We should wait for Vah Naboris to be calibrated.”

Link looked at the Sheikah warrior crouched behind the sandstone boulder. He squinted.

“How many times have we tried to go in there alone?” Impa whispered. “Every time there are just too many of those Yiga bowmen patrolling.”

Link whipped his head to Impa and frowned despite his face being covered by a mask.

“What will be different this time?” Impa implored. 

The whole scouting team looked ahead at the entrance into the Yiga hideout. Only at night the fires within the canyon were visible.

“The Princess and technicians are working as quickly as they can to find the replacement parts for Naboris,” one of the Sheikah commented. “We really should not go inside.”

“Naboris will crush through the hideout, we don’t need to risk it,” Impa agreed. 

Link sighed and then turned to Impa to signed, ‘I’ll go alone. It’ll be safer.’ 

Link hopped from behind the collapsed pillar and headed into the canyon valley. 

“I guess we can’t talk you out of it,” Impa groaned. “How do we know if you end up in trouble?”

Link paused and thought for a moment. Then, he turned and signed to Impa, ‘If you don’t see me in six hours, send help?’ He smiled behind his mask and ran toward the Yiga hideout before the Sheikah warriors could call after him again. 

It was a long walk through the canyon only with the sound of the sand pouring down from the outcrops to keep him company and the garlands of the red slats clacking overhead. It was unnerving how it reminded him of Kakariko. Link kept a hand held toward his quiver, waiting for the faint puff of talisman papers before the Yiga archers appeared. 

Link and the Sheikah were never meant to head into the canyon, they were there just to patrol. But Link was tired of walking the same routes knowing there was nothing they could do until Vah Naboris was under control. Unless, of course, they were to cut out the source of the problem, at the root. That was whoever was considered the leader of the Yiga clan. 

Link was staring up at the little stone statues littered on the stone outcrops and sinking in the sand as he came upon a circular chamber at the end of the valley with large fire at the centre and canvas hangings across the walls. Link nocked an arrow as he slowly stepped over the threshold into the room. 

However, no archers appeared. Link watched the embers from the fire drift toward a canvas sheet and followed them to lift up the edge of the heavy fabric. He grinned when he discovered an open doorway behind it. 

The tall stone walls closed around him with the cold. Link shuddered and pulled his shoulders up into the flimsy white scarf he wore over the Sheikah stealth clothing against the sand. 

He made his way through the narrow corridor, watching the reflection of firelight ahead flicker. Turning the corner, he saw an open prison cell with bars made from wooden stakes tied together with red rope. There were abandoned pieces of clothing on the floor, an empty metal dish. 

Link crouched and crept toward the cell, squinting at the clothing. But then a figure carrying a torch appeared in his peripheral in the open room to his right and he threw himself back into the corridor he came from.

Breathing hard, Link watched the Yiga blademaster turn their back to him before continuing with their patrol away from the cell. Link jumped from the parapet in front of the cell and ran in a low crouch behind the Yiga warrior.

More fires of patrols flickered ahead. Link squeezed himself between the wall and large timber containers to wait for the light to pass. As soon as the light of the patrol was gone, Link continued to move, running into another narrow corridor as his teeth started to clack from the cold.

Link stumbled as he exited the corridor onto a system of timber gangways hanging over an open room that branched into different corridors with red walls. Link stared at the shifting shadows of the Yiga moving below. Despite Urbosa claiming that it was almost certain that Sooga survived, he never showed face again. Maybe he did succumb to his injuries. Link doubted that something could have lived after meeting head on the lightning burning with the Triforce of Power could survive. Still, there was someone leading the Yiga. He had to keep searching through the hideout.

The air seemed even colder further into the hideout and Link’s thumping heart did nothing to warm him. He stepped onto a plank bridge connecting a stone platform at the centre of the room to the gangway Link was standing on. 

The connected planks creaked with Link’s soft steps and swaying as he walked across the bridge. He tried to ignore the shaking in his legs as he saw a Yiga archer pause underneath the flimsy bridge.

Link stopped, tense and arms twitching to stretch out to balance him. He saw the archer tilt up their head and that was when he lost his balance. 

His back hit the stone floor, his spine burned with pain. Noise rose around Link as he turned over, trying to stand as he reached for his sword. He had left behind the Master Sword for this very reason; if he is caught he will not be recognised as the Hylian Princess’s knight. 

Link stood, blade held out, facing the circle of Yiga warriors around him. The archers held their bows nocked, arrowheads pointed down at him.

“You could make it easy for yourself, little hero,” a blademaster warned, lowering a sword rippling with light toward Link.

Link remained completely still as he stared up at the immense warrior. Then, without a sound, he tore from the spot, swinging his sword as he spun. Noise rose again as arrows shot forward and blade crashed down toward Link.

He knew it was a hopeless struggle, but it was worth an attempt. 

Hands grabbed Link by the wrists and ankles, weapons were stripped off his body, mask and scarf tossed aside. Red rope was spun around his limbs as he struggled, biting and scratching until he was held like a sack and tossed into a cell where the wooden stake bars slammed down instantly into the divots in the ground. 

Link rolled over onto his side as two Yiga warriors watched him from the other side of the bars.

“Are you sure we can’t mess with him first?” the archer asked as he stooped to get a better look at Link.

The blademaster just sighed. 

“Look how cute he is,” the archer went on. “He is just like a little squirrel, I want to squash him.” Then, after a pause, “Are you sure this isn’t that blonde Hylian Princess? Looks too pretty.”

“And what would a Princess be doing crawling through here with a sword,” the blademaster dismissed. “Come on, you can tease him later.” 

Link fell limp against the floor as the Yiga warriors walked away. Now, he had six hours to plot or to just… wait for the Sheikah patrol to report him missing. But then what help could they possibly get through to him.

The Gerudo would hardly dare to risk any of their own to help him. They would have gutted the hideout themselves if they knew what they were walking into, but without Vah Naboris at full function it was a thoughtless, dangerous mission.

The word would be passed to Urbosa and then she would… she would tell Ganon, possibly. Link’s mood managed to sour further. 

After the incident in the outpost outside the Tabantha borders, they didn’t speak again. When the champions gathered in the Rito village to watch Vah Medoh take flight, Ganon and Link stood at the opposite ends of the room from each other. It seemed like coincidence, but Link knew it was intentional. When the champions and soldiers left to search the mountain range for monsters which managed to evade the storm of Medoh, Link could feel in his gut the rage that was carried in Ganon’s attacks. Even Zelda seemed to catch a sense of what had happened so she and Mipha stuck to Link’s side despite his grouching.

It was a month before Link saw Ganon again and that was the morning he arrived in Gerudo Town with the Sheikah. They reported to Urbosa to make her aware that they will be within the territory and Ganon was in the throne room with her. He greeted the Sheikah, but his eyes skimmed over Link without taking notice.

It left a cold feeling in Link’s gut. Ganon used to have a habit of giving Link a nonchalant kiss on the hand if they met in a formal situation. To not even have him recognise Link felt too strange.

Link swallowed the self pity as it swelled in his throat, hoping it would keep it down before it made his eyes sting. But it was a little late. Link couldn’t even rub at his eyes with his hands tied behind his back. He felt pathetic. 

Link turned onto his back despite the pain of lying on top of his hands and stared up at the dusty stone ceiling of the cell. The room outside was empty besides the meandering lights of the guarding Yiga.

Link didn’t know when he fell asleep, but he woke up to the floor shaking. There was yelling, someone screaming for the Yiga to get their lazy asses into position— another explosion. More shouting. Walls collapsing somewhere far far below.

Link couldn’t get up to see what was happening outside; his body ached with pins and needles and his hands were numb. He could only watch and listen from his position on the floor. The Yiga were panicking as the ruckus made its way through the hideout. It sounded like the numerous floors of the cave system were falling in on themselves. 

Lights sparked with the fluttering of talismans as more Yiga warriors gathered under the command of the blademasters. Link pressed his ear to the floor and listened to the rock crack. 

The booms of explosions arrived with echoing intervals, each sounding like a giant’s footsteps breaking through the floor. Timber broke, stone shattered, blades snapped, arrows whistled. Thunder. 

Link saw the lightning reflect on the walls. It wasn’t green like Urbosa’s, it was burnished like copper, almost red like the sun before a storm. It burned the Yiga alive and destroyed the surroundings. 

The crackles of lightning reflected in the golden plating of Gerudo armour cinched over black cloth. Link stared in disbelief as Ganon walked into the destroyed room, both scimitars bare and pulsing with power. Ganon’s hair was wild, seeming to move on its own with every spark of lightning. Then, the golden, furious eyes turned to the cell where Link was lying. 

For a moment, Link did feel afraid as he watched the golden clad footsteps approach him. He flinched when the scimitars ripped through the wood of the bars, throwing splinters across the floor. 

Link let out a painful exhale as he heard Ganon whisper, “Finally found you, princess.” 

The hands that turned Link on his side were determined, but gentle, as a scimitar was used to cut the rope ties. 

“Come on, up with you,” Ganon encouraged when Link struggled to get his arms under himself to sit up. Then, his legs were freed and he was pulled up to stand.

Link stumbled out of the cell after Ganon, staring at the wreckage that surrounded him. It seemed like there wasn’t time for even a ‘hello’.

“We need to get going,” Ganon urged him as he started glancing around the exits. “Their reinforcements will be flooding in soon and I’m afraid it’s just the two of us against them.” 

Link’s mouth fell open. Just the two— But he didn’t even get to finish the thought as Ganon shoved into his hands a bow and quiver he yanked off the body of a Yiga.

Shouts echoed in the corridors somewhere far ahead and Ganon pulled Link after him as he broke into a sprint. “Time to run!” was all he said. 

Link sprang after Ganon, swinging the quiver onto his shoulder and nocking two arrows in the bow. He held back the Yiga archers appearing from the corridors as Ganon cleared their way ahead, slashing with scimitars and sending bolts of lightning, burning both timber and flesh alike. 

A rift of air knocked Ganon off his path. Arrows sliced the air, cutting Link across his face, chest, and arms. He was thrown out of the way as a windcleaver slashed down, glancing on Ganon’s exposed arm, cutting skin and fabric before meeting metal. The blademaster’s face was grabbed in a large palm and lightning bursted across the mask. 

Blood dripped onto the floor as Link shot arrow after arrow at the Yiga, thinning the ranks before Ganon caught his breath. Even with fresh blood running down his arm from the windcleaver skinning it, Ganon still held his scimitars steady.

Ganon shouted for Link to keep moving and they left behind crushed corridors of the hideout that were filled with the static crackles and the smell of burning meat.

They crashed into the circular where Link had first entered the hideout. Blademasters were waiting for them with a horde of archers poised to shoot. 

Ganon shoved Link behind him and said, “Don’t move.” Then he reached out his hand.

From his vantage point behind the arm that was holding him back, Link saw light begin to burn from Ganon’s palm as the Triforce symbol glowed on the back of his hand covered in blood.

Link yanked himself against Ganon’s back when the thunderstorm roared inside the enclosed walls. His hair rose with the static and heart shuddered. A clap of thunder deafened whatever else that happened as Link saw the flash of light behind his closed eyelids. 

Then, his hand was taken and he was pulled into a sprint. Link opened his eyes to the sun glowing on the sand. 

They did not stop running even as they left the canyon. Link was beginning to stumble, losing footing in the sand as Ganon continued to urge him onwards. Link thought he heard Ganon laughing as they tried to steady each other while tumbling down the dunes towards ruin columns.

Link was breathing through his open, dry mouth as he climbed onto the shattered stone floor of the ruins and dropped against a pillar. Ganon fell across from him in the shadow, breathing heavily as he tipped his head back against the column and sighed. 

They sat together like that for a while in the cool shadows of the ruins, bleeding onto the chalky rock. Ganon’s left hand was limp and looked painful to move, but he didn’t care as his focus was on Link who sat rigid, looking across at Ganon with a strained look. 

“Why are you looking at me like that— Why are you crying?” Ganon looked like he wanted to reach out to Link, but didn’t.

‘You don’t—‘ He stopped, then tired again. ‘Do you hate me?’

Ganon sighed like it had pained him to think of an answer and closed his eyes. He swallowed heavily, trying to gather words, and looked at Link. “Why are you asking me this?”

‘Please just answer me,’ Link insisted.

For a while, Ganon was silent and Link thought he would refuse to answer. But then he spoke. “I have been angry with you, so so very angry,” Ganon said, sounding strained. “But I would never find the force within me to hate you.” He looked aside from Link’s tearful face. “I could never hate you.”

The conviction in Ganon’s voice almost broke Link.

“Even when I dreamt of you putting that sword you always carry through my heart, shooting me with arrows over and over and over,” Ganon continued. “Even when I saw the certainty in your eyes that you wished for my death, I still couldn’t hate you. All those dreams I had were not of you and yet they were, every face though different was you.”

Tears started to pour down Link’s face. Ganon still didn’t reach out.

Link tried to speak but his hands shook until he squeezed them into fists and pressed them against his eyes.

“Why are you asking me this all of a sudden?” Ganon prompted him, somewhat tentatively. 

LInk swallowed a breath and dropped his hands from his eyes. ‘In my dreams,’ he said, ‘your hatred made you a monster. You were a beast that tried to crush me with hooves. You were the man that stole Zelda. Your greed tried to take the Triforce from her. You were a thief—‘ 

Link looked at Ganon’s golden eyes, so full of patience. ‘You know my duty is first to Zelda. I’m bound to her as her guardian and friend. It’s my duty. I never hesitated when I had to do what I did in those dreams.’

“Yes, as is your duty,” Ganon affirmed.

‘I have been waiting for the same thing to happen in this lifetime. I was waiting for your hate to turn you in a monster from your power and your greed— You are the Calamity.’ Link wished he could have screamed it at Ganon, but instead he could only stare at him and hope that he understood the gravity of the silent, jumbled words. He just hoped that some sense could be made out of them.

Ganon leaned across the space between them took both of Link’s hands into one of his own as warm blood dripped onto Link’s fingers, seeping between them. “I know— I know, hero. I know who I am. The dreams said enough, didn’t they? But whatever was meant to happen to turn me toward that insatiable greed, the thirst for power, it didn’t happen. I am not Calamity Ganon. I am Ganondorf, King of the Gerudo. You know who I am.”

‘You are,’ Link mouthed. ‘I do.’ 

Link closed his eyes and leaned his forehead against Ganon’s. His hands were held in the warm, solid grip of Ganon’s palm. He couldn’t cry again, so he got up on his knees and kissed Ganon instead.

Link tasted blood when Ganon kissed him back, grounding him despite how much he wished to be elated with relief. Link tore his hands out of Ganon’s and wrapped them around his neck and yanked Ganon against his chest before squeezing him close.

Ganon did nothing before laughing. “What is it now, princess?” he asked but didn’t resist as he pressed his head against Link’s chest.

Link just snorted, leaning heavily against Ganon. He was aware of how exhausted he was and there was still a long way through the desert to the town. At least he felt like he could make it there, now.

  
  
  
  
  
  



	7. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It’s finally complete!!! 😭😭 thank u so much for reading this, I hope it’s been a fun journey. I can’t believe I’ve been working on this au since— what July? Jfc. I’ll probably come back to this at some point and add some smut bonuses, but for now im going onto the next au 
> 
> If u lot wanna ask anything I’m @st-hedge on tumblr :>

The Faron woods were not as scorching as the Gerudo desert, but the humid, sticky air replaced the heat with its own insufferable quality. Even in the shade of the palm trees every inch of skin would quickly become covered in sweat and every breath laboured. Ganon started to miss the desert already and the coolness of the night sands.

He hadn’t thought he would need the airy clothes meant for cooling off in the desert but he was proven very wrong as soon as the trio crossed lake Hylia. Even Link opted to change into the Gerudo clothes. 

Ganon looked across at the small Hylian where he sat against a mossy stone pillar with his feet in shallow water. Link had his eyes closed and head tipped back, his sun burned hair stuck to his damp skin, the same as the silk of his clothes which clung to every contour.

Ganon looked over his shoulder at the stone shrine that opened as a giant dragon maw into the chamber of the Spring of Courage. Zelda was praying inside, she was gone for a while - it was late evening already. She only asked for Link and Ganon to guard the entrance from the Lizalfos. 

Ganon picked up a pebble from the shallow pool of tepid water and threw it toward Link, hitting him on the thigh. The Hylian cracked open one eye and turned slightly toward Ganon.

‘What?’ Link mouthed, leaving his mouth slightly opened like it exhausted him to move his lips. 

Ganon shrugged, smirking. “Can’t sleep on guard duty,” he whispered. For some reason it felt like sacrilege to talk in a full voice while Zelda prayed. 

Link scoffed and closed his eyes again. It was difficult not to succumb to sleep. 

The scuff of shoes on the stone floor of the spring’s chamber alerted both Ganon and Link as Zelda finally emerged. Her climbing clothes were soaked from the spring’s water, her face morphed with frustration. 

‘Nothing?’ Link asked once he stood from his spot. 

Zelda shook her head. “Same as it has always been all my life.”

Link frowned in sympathy. 

“Do you still want to keep moving toward Akkala?” Ganon asked her. 

Zelda looked up at the tree canopies as though she could see her path charted out in the sky. “Yes,” she said. “Even if it’s useless for me it might be good for you to visit the Spring of Power.” Zelda looked up at Ganon. “You hear the voice like Link does, don’t you? Even when you are just close to the Sword.”

Ganon looked aside.

Zelda laughed. “Like I said maybe this is all for the best.”

“How so?” Ganon couldn’t help but ask. He could see Link become somber, it seemed like it was a conversation the two Hylains had before. 

“I think I finally realised it when I saw your Triforce become revealed,” Zelda told Ganon. “It takes a great deal of hurt and desperation, a certain hurt that you feel when you try to protect your loved ones, for the Triforce to be awakened. I have seen it happen for Link. Whatever is that feeling, I hope I never experience it.”

With that, Zelda walked forward, leaving Ganon and Link behind her. “I think I’m almost ready to climb for the shrine hidden on the Great Plateau,” she said over her shoulder. “I may head there after Akkala.”

The golden slippers on Link’s feet clacked on the flagstones as he rushed to follow Zelda. When he was at her side Zelda suddenly jerked away, covering her nose.

“You smell like a horse,” she told Link. “When was the last time you washed?” 

Ganon couldn’t stop his laughter when he watched Link sign: ‘It rained yesterday!’ 

Zelda pushed her knight away before quickly making distance. “Don’t come back to the stable until you have washed!” She instructed. “I’ll find a merchant to buy arrows.” 

As Zelda left the clearing of the ruins, Link sighed heavily and prodded at his damp clothes. 

“You should take the advice,” Ganon called out to Link. “Nobody will let you sleep at the inn like that.” 

Link grimaced at him but said, ‘I heard a lake over there.’ Then, he marched in the direction he pointed, hopping up the stone walls to disappear out of sight in the foliage. 

Ganon stood alone in the ruins, only with the sound of the water for company. Instead of following either Zelda or Link, he turned to the chamber of the sacred spring. He stood on the threshold, looking inside but not taking a step further. 

It was true that he could hear the Goddess speak, but sometimes it was just the sound of a gentle harp echoing and Ganon knew that she was there, he didn’t need to hear anything else from her.

Standing there a moment longer, Ganon listened to the song. It was almost like he could hear the hum of a voice join the harp. 

Ganon left the spring and followed the tracks of broken foliage Link left behind. The sound of running water lapping against rock led Ganon through the dense forest, the maze of roots beneath the undergrowth forcing him to walk slowly. The tall ferns clung to the thin silk of his clothes, like they were trying to divert Ganon, but he could already see the lake water dancing in the evening light. 

There was a pile of clothes thrown aside on the lake shore on top of the Master Sword and the small travel satchel Link carried with him. Ganon watched as the lily pads in the lake bobbed, the purple flowers jostled as a leaf lifted and a pair of eyes peered up at him. Link smiled beneath the water.

“Looks tempting to join you in there,” Ganon said as he dropped the belt with his scimitars and approached the lake.

Link appeared from beneath the lily pads and swam toward the rocky shore. He was naked besides for the shorts and jewellery around his neck and wrists. 

Ganon sat down on the shore as he unfastened his greaves and slipped off his shoes. He dipped his legs into the water just as Link approached, nonchalantly swimming up between his knees and leveraging himself up by putting his hands on Ganon’s spread thighs.

Saying nothing, Ganon pushed aside Link’s soaking fringe. He was starting to miss the long hair. 

Link gestured to him with one hand to get into the water, but Ganon shook his head. “Time for me to be your look out,” he said. Then, his hand drew to the wet braids with golden beads.

‘As if I need a look out,’ Link signed before quickly grabbing hold of Ganon’s thighs again to balance himself out, his fingers digging in tightly to keep himself in place. 

Ganon scoffed. “I get so little time alone with you.” Link tilted up his chin when Ganon pushed it up with a finger. “Maybe I should capture you again, put you in pretty things just for the fun of it.”

Link squirmed but grinned up at Ganon.

“Maybe I should put a collar and a chain on you this time so I can make sure you are right by my side.” Ganon then sighed and flicked Link on the forehead, startling him. “But no, you are too much of a feral animal to be kept indoors.”

Link showed all his teeth in a grin. Then, his eyes darted aside, somewhere behind Ganon, and he mouthed: ‘Watch out.’

Then Link snapped out of the water, swept his sword out of the scabbard and threw it over Ganon’s shoulder. 

The metal hit something with a solid _thunk_ and Ganon turned around. The Master Sword was impaled in the head of a yellow Lizalfos that was lying on the ground, sparking with electricity, a pronged boomerang still clenched in its hand in a death grip. 

Ganon laughed as he looked down at Link who said to him in a rasping voice, “Who is the lookout?” Then he pushed himself up out of the water by his grip on Ganon’s legs and planted a kiss straight on his lips.

Link grabbed Ganon by his shoulders and with one firm jerk managed to unsteady him, toppling both of them into the water.

Ganon fell face forward into the lake, taking Link down with him. The lily pads sailed on the waves that lapped against the shores as Ganon and Link resurfaced, both completely drenched. Link didn’t waste time as he scrambled onto Ganon’s shoulders, sinking him again, and jumped onto the shore into the grass. 

“Hold on, you brat!” Ganon shouted as he tried to wade through the water, glaring through his drenched hair. “I’ll exact my revenge on you for that!”

Link planted his bare foot on Ganon’s shoulder and pushed him back, laughing viciously as the Gerudo King fell back again and struggled to find balance.

Sputtering violently, Ganon finally managed to get himself out of the water just as Link was getting dressed, grabbed him around the waist and threw him back into the lake. He watched with self satisfaction as Link fell into the lily pads, laughing even through mouthfuls of water. He might as well join him in there again, Ganon decided.


End file.
